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Pippa Middleton has dominated global headlines over the past 48 hours, following her engagement to hedge fund manager, James Matthews.

With photographers stationed outside of her home, waiting to get a closer shot of her diamond ring - which according to jewellery experts is thought to cost as much as £200,000 - it's not surprising that she has been looking perfectly put-together in a number of elegant heatwave-appropriate dresses. However Middleton has offset the fact that she is wearing diamonds worth the same as many people's homes, by pairing her engagement ring with affordable pieces exclusively from the high street.

Pippa Middleton wears a floral dress by Vila the day after the announcement of her engagementCredit:
Rex

Like her sister the Duchess of Cambridge- the high priestess of high-low glamour- Pippa Middleton has access to exquisite dresses by designer British brands; Tabitha Webb and Beulah are among her usual favourites. But her wardrobe is all about balance and is equally made up of Whistles, L.K. Bennett and Reiss. This morning Middleton wore a breezy spaghetti strap nude dress with a large rose-print pattern, once again keeping her ring in sight by carefully positioning her left hand on the strap of her handbag. The summer dress is now sold out, but was a purse-friendly £45 from the Danish high street brand Vila, which is stocked at ASOS.

Yesterday when Middleton gave the world the first glimpse of her engagement ring, she opted for another high street summer shift wearing a white embroidered Whistles dress with three-quarter length sleeves. While the £110 Lisa dress is now no longer in stock, for those hoping for a similar option Whistles' Ailsa white lace dress is another winning option.

On Monday evening at a London society event, the Miles Frost Fund Gala, Middleton artfully hid her left hand behind her dress, heightening the speculation that she was engaged. Defying the expectation that you might need to invest for a big society do, the dress in question was another high street buy, this time from one of her sister's favourite brands, L.K.Bennett. Pippa wore a breezy silk dusty pink, daisy printed dress with a cascading hem and nipped in waist which was available for £325 but has since sold out. It seems the 'Middleton effect' is a family trait.

As for the ring, it is understood to have been purchased from the London jeweller Robinson Pelham. The company has been a regular source of jewellery for the Middleton family, and provided the diamond earrings the Duchess of Cambridge wore on her wedding day. While the company would not comment on the ring, The Telegraph’s jewellery expert Annabel Davidson described the piece as “quite Art Deco in style” with a central stone that is “upwards of three carats”.

Sarah Sheard, manager and diamond expert at Hatton Jewels which values jewellery, suggests: "The main stone appears to be around 3.5 carats with a total of 5 carats on the whole ring. The ring itself is platinum. The diamonds have an excellent clarity and white colour, as you'd expect given who it has been made for."

Joanna Hardy, a fine jewellery expert, explains that the design is a modern interpretation of a classic Art Deco style. "With an Art Deco ring you would have baguette diamonds around the outside, so to have changed for modern round cut diamonds. that definitely is a contemporary twist," she says. "It seems that there is a bit of space around the setting of the Asscher cut diamond, which is a twist as with an Art Deco ring you would have diamonds or metal next to the main stone. The fact that you can see the gap gives a sense of lightness, which you wouldn't see in a traditional Deco piece, and it makes it look elegant."

So while Pippa's ring might be the stuff of dreams (or years and years of saving up for many of us) her dress wardrobe is something we can all get on board with.